For the third time, the Maastricht University (UM) School of Business and Economics (SBE) is offering the Fast Forward (FFWD) programme. FFWD is a leadership development programme that helps prepare and support academic talents in their personal and responsible leadership, to involve them in SBE’s strategy and to expand their network within SBE.

On 16 February 2017, W@Competition—a platform aiming to help promote and connect women in the Competition Practice—announced for the first time a list of ‘30 in their 30s Women Competition Professionals.’

Born and raised in Heerlen, Lars Pacbier remains proudly connected to the city he describes as “having come a long way from being one of the major crime cities in the Netherlands” to winning the 2016 World Travel and Tourism Council’s Best Travel Destination in the World Award. In fact, Lars and his company FB4 have become one of the driving forces responsible for attracting international attention to Heerlen and the surrounding areas.

‘My pension? Hmm… I’ll look at it by that time.’ ‘Let’s worry about that when we get there.’ Particularly people who have a while to go until retirement, tend to stick their heads in the sand when it comes to their financial future. Somewhere in their mind they might have a voice telling them that this is not wise, but that voice is skilfully silenced. Lisa Brüggen, researcher at Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, is looking for ways to strengthen that voice. Her research question is: How can you make Dutch people aware of their pension situation and encourage them to secure their future income?

Every year, university rankings are released by various publications, ranking schools on criteria such as schools’ admission figures, placement data and starting salaries for graduates, or overall student and alumni satisfaction. How important are these rankings?

Every year, the winners of the thesis prize are announced at Maastricht University’s Dies Natalis. This year, Alumnus Matthijs Korrevaar was among them. The thesis prizes are awarded to master’s students who have written an outstanding thesis. In his thesis, Matthijs investigated how rents in several European cities have developed over the last 500 years. “You often hear people say that the rents are rising. But if you look at the long term, you’ll discover that rents have become much more affordable.”

In the era of US President Donald Trump and the UK’s vote to exit the EU, many are wondering about intrinsic differences between the right and left and where political preferences come from. In a paper about to be published in Elsevier’s Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation, researchers Kaj Thomsson and Alexander Vostroknutov explore this question through the lens of giving: How is sharing shaped by our political inclinations?